Lady Eagles trek to Randall to take 8-5 win over Lady Raiders

JAMES BARRINGTON Canyon News staff

Published 1:00 pm, Wednesday, April 10, 2013

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Lady Eagles trek to Randall to take 8-5 win over Lady Raiders

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Whenever Canyon and Randall meet on any venue of competition, one can count on a high level of intensity by both sides. That was certainly true Friday evening as the Lady Eagles softball team traveled to Randall and used a four-run fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead and then hung on for the 8-5 final win.

After a scoreless first inning that saw both teams leave the bases loaded with stranded runners, the Lady Eagles scored in the top of the second when Hailey Forbes came home on a sacrifice fly to Randall center fielder Jamee Bye for the first out of the inning. Cambry Hedger followed Forbes home when Maci Brown got a hit to right center.

The Lady Raiders, sparked by the Canyon runs, returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs to answer. Like the Lady Eagles, the first two batters advanced to base and scored before three outs ended the inning. Chrisitana Lucero, handing first base fielding duties got a lead-off single with a blooper toward third that she beat to first base. She advanced to second when Baillie Wilmeth got on base by a fielding error. A Madysen Eades sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third before a two-RBI single by Ciera Nunez scored both base runners. Nunez was picked off trying to steal second and Bye flew out to center field to leave the game knotted at 2-2 after two.

Getting their bats warmed up, the Lady Eagles put two more runs across home plate in the top of the third. After Brittany Zotter grounded out to Hannah Whitley on the mound and Carrie McConnell got on base with a hit, Katie Belyeu got on base with a fielder’s choice when Nunez picked off McConnell at second but couldn’t turn the double-play at first. That’s when things started falling Canyon’s way. Whitley struck out Forbes at the plate, but a mishandled ball at the plate gave Forbes the chance to steal first, with Belyeu at second. Then Cambry Hedger drove a line shot down the left field line for a two-RBI double that put the Lady Eagles up 4-2.

The first two Lady Raiders went down in order in the bottom of the third before Kaci Taylor hit a double. She stole third before Kasmir Perez advanced to base on a walk. Perez stole second with Lucero at bat, but the inning ended with a fly-out to center field, stranding Taylor and Perez in scoring position.

With the 4-2 lead going into the fourth inning, the Lady Eagles doubled their score. Brown opened the inning with a line-drive double to right field, but the Lady Raiders’ defense stiffened when Thea Coffman popped up to Nunez at shortstop and Cheyenne Housh grounded out when she hit to Nunez, who threw her out at first. But that play allowed Brown to advance to third with two outs. At that point, Zotter got an RBI single when she beat the Nunez throw to first. That put the Lady Eagles up 5-2. McConnell hit a grounder through the middle that put her on first and Zotter on second, and then a fielding error put Belyeu on first, loading the bases. Forbes then broke the game open with a three-RBI double when she powered a line drive into deep center field. She was stranded at second when Hedger flew out to Bye in center field, but the damage was done.

Randall mustered one run in the bottom of the fourth when Bye hit a sacrifice grounder that allowed Eades to score from third. Eades had reached on a fielding error, stolen second and advanced to third on a single by Nunez.

After holding the Lady Eagles scoreless in the fifth, the Lady Raiders went back to work at the plate and drove two more runs home. With one out, Taylor hit a double down the left field line and scored when Perez hit a grounder through the middle for a double-bagger of her own. Perez then scored off a double by Lucero. But that was all the Randall girls could muster.

The sixth and seventh innings were all defense. Although Randall left one runner stranded in the bottom of the sixth, it was three up and three down for Canyon in the fifth and for both teams in the seventh.

The win improved the Lady Eagles to 6-0 in district play as they completed the first game of the second half of district action, still undefeated. Canyon head coach Brady Schenk said after the game, “I don’t think it gets sweeter than beating Randall. I love Coach Scott. They have good players. And if we’re going to continue our streak, it’s a good one to start the second round with.”

He was quick to give praise to a formidable opponent in the Lady Raiders. “They played well, hit the ball well and hit the ball where we weren’t. That was a little frustrating for us at first, but I think our girls did well overcoming it and playing through it.”

Schenk wasn’t surprised that the game went the full seven innings. “There’s a part of me that always hopes it doesn’t,” he said, “but I was expecting it to go seven.”

Randall’s head coach, Bobby Scott, said, “Hat’s off to Canyon. They played a great game. Our kids started off a little slow. We tried to make a comeback and they made some great defensive plays against us. I think both teams came out and hit the ball well. It was a good, fun game. I hate to be on the losing end of it, but some of these games are fun anyway.”

The Lady Eagles were scheduled to host Dumas on Tuesday. They will next see action at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow when they travel to Caprock to face the Lady Longhorns.

The Lady Raiders traveled to Palo Duro on Tuesday. At 4:30 p.m. tomorrow they will host Amarillo High’s Lady Sandies.